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Ranching couple<br />
sees Scots cattle<br />
prosper in Arizona<br />
Story by David Sowders<br />
Photos by Douglas Long<br />
Jim and Carol Ptak’s Gryphon Ranch, in<br />
the hilly El Capitan area south of Globe,<br />
Arizona, got its start in western Washington<br />
state 18 years ago.<br />
“We only had 100 acres; it was mainly a hay<br />
farm,” said Carol Ptak. It was after expanding<br />
that hay farm, doubling it in size, that the Ptaks<br />
were introduced to Scottish Highland cattle.<br />
“The next year, we went to harvest again, and<br />
we still had all that bad hay in the barn,” said<br />
Carol. “At that point you have a choice: Either<br />
pull it all out of the barn and burn it, or find<br />
something to eat it.”<br />
A friend suggested the “stupid-proof” Highland<br />
breed, so called because “you can be pretty<br />
stupid and still do well with them, because<br />
they’re so durable and hardy.”<br />
The Ptaks took that suggestion, buying a pair<br />
of Highland steers. Their intent was to eat one<br />
and sell the other. Discovering that it takes the<br />
breed three years to grow up, they purchased<br />
two more steers – and the couple’s venture into<br />
ranching would take off from there.<br />
“We had a neighbor down the road who had<br />
Highlands and he had taken ill, so we ended<br />
up boarding his breeding herd for six months,”<br />
Carol said. “He paid us in cow-calf pairs, and<br />
next thing you know we were off and running.”<br />
On an early January day, stretches of the road<br />
to Gryphon Ranch were covered in snow. As<br />
she drove a side-by-side toward the ranch, Carol<br />
said the road followed the original 19th century<br />
stagecoach route from Tucson to Globe.<br />
The move<br />
The Gryphon Ranch – Arizona’s sole commercial<br />
breeder of Highland cattle – has been<br />
at El Capitan for 10 years. It has always been a<br />
two-person “mom and pop” operation.<br />
The Ptaks came to Arizona for the same<br />
6 <strong>Gateway</strong> to the <strong>Copper</strong> <strong>Corridor</strong> <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2024</strong>